Life Will Go On
by Leah7Writes
Summary: When tragedy strikes Bella is forced to return home to La Push. As soon as she arrives she is met with a difficult decision, let her children's father see them, or let him live with the decision he made four years ago and keep them away. Can Sam prove to Bella that he has changed? Will Bella reject his imprint on her?
1. Chapter 1: The Disaster

Chapter 1: The Disaster

It's been 4 years since I left this place for good, now I'm back and have to plan a funeral, well 3 funerals. I don't think I'll be able to do this; bury my father, my best friend and her father all in one day. It's too much, there is only two things that keep me going in the day or makes me wake up in the morning, two things and two things only.

I drive past the 'Welcome to Forks' sign, and down the familiar road to Charlie's house or well old house should I say, that guilty feeling bouncing in my throat.

My little perfections stir beside me, probably sensing their father near, he didn't want them. One of them opens their eyes and simply states, "Home."

"Yeah CJ buddy, we're home." I say. He took the looks from my side, he reminds me of my dad so much, except the russet skin he took from his father or that might've from mine and my mother's side as she was from the Rez and we both had almost russet skin. Beside him his seven minute younger sister grumbles in her sleep. "C'mon wakey, wakey Bill, we're almost there your Uncle Jakey is excited to see you!"

"We stay at Untle Jatey's gen?" Billie grumbles.

I watch as she rubs the sleep out of her eyes, "No, Bee, we're not staying at uncle Jakes, he lives in the city. We are going to stay at grandpa Charlies old house for a while, Uncle Jake is already there, he is staying too." I tell them, I honestly don't know how long it will take for me to be able to leave again.

"Tan we see Untle Biwwy and Untle Arry too?" CJ asks. He loved my fathers friends, they all would take him fishing while me an-and _Leah_ would take Billie horse riding whenever we visited Jake in the city. My children had never been to La Push before, I showed them photos of me and Paul, my cousin at first beach, pictures of me, Seth and Lea outside their house, Jake and I around the bonfire and me and my dad with a fish outside his house. They always asked if they could go see Uncle Billy and Uncle Harry but they never got to, their father would see them.

I take a peek at him, not really wanting to take my eyes off the twisty road. "Ceej, I told you this before we left, Uncle Harry… h-he won't be there. He i-is up in heaven."

"But mummy, tan we still see Untle Biwwy, pwease?" Billie asks, she loves her Billy.

"Of course sweetie, he might be a little bit sad though, you know like mummy gets sad sometimes about Grampa Charlie." I try to explain.

"Oh tay mummy." He chirps happily. His attention span is right for his age of three and a half.

I pull up in front of Charlie's hou- _old_ house, "We're here my little darlings. Welcome to our home for the next little while. Are you guys ready?" I ask, unbuckling my belt.

"Yes Mummy!" They chorus.

"Alright my angels stay there and I'll come around and get you." I say, jumping out my door of the truck. Half way around the front I run into something, hard, tall, shirtless and boiling hot. "JAKE!" I squeal.

He pulls me into a hug, "Hey Belly, how was the drive? And how are my niece and nephew?" He lets me go and follows me to take one of the twins out of the car. "Hey brats, how you guys doing?" He says as he takes CJ from his seat.

"I is good Untle Jate!" Ceej replies.

"And what about you Billie Ella? You still climbing trees?" He jokes.

Bill glares at Jake, "I don't cime rees Jatey, I'm a gurl!" She exclaims to him.

"I know you are pumpkin." He laughs and throws her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and bends down and picks CJ up and pulls him onto his hip.

"How's Billy Jake? How's he been holding up since…" I ask quietly.

Jake looks at me solemnly, "Well you know, as good as can be. What about you? How are you doing?"

"Terrible, the only reason I do anything is for the twins." I reply and place my hand on CJ's arm.

Jake gives me a tight smile, we're both grieving but he understands that I need my time on this until I'm able to talk. "Bella, I have to warn you, Sam… he's changed. A lot. I was in the Rez earlier before you guys came and if you think he was big before you should see him now! He's almost seven foot and is ripped as," he looks at the twins and mouths 'fuck' to me, "and he also doesn't speak to anyone anymore. At least that's what Seth told me. It's all I could get out of the poor kid."

The mention of Seth bring a fresh new set of tears to my eyes, him and his mother must not be coping well. The loss of two family members would kill me. It's tearing me apart losing one. I will have to ask Jacob to watch the twins so I can visit them.

"Hey Bells, wanna go for a walk up to the shop? It's only a half mile up the road and the little ones could get lifted if they needed." Jake asks from the floor where he is playing with Billy. I have CJ on my knee showing him a picture book and I am asking him to tell me things about each picture.

Charlie's house is just inside La Push, much closer to Forks than the beaches but not far from town. "Yeah sure, let me go get the kids cases from the car so I can get their jackets. Watch them both for two seconds." I plonk Cee on the floor beside them and grab the truck keys. I slip on my boots and head down the path. I feel like someone is watching me and can't seem to shake the feeling off for the whole time that I am outside.

I take all the cases out of the truck bed and go to the cab to get the bags with the rest of the toys and books in it. With three bags over my shoulder I grab two of the suits cases not exactly judging the amount of space I would have on the narrow path with the two bulky cases in tow.

I start my way up the path and as soon as they are through the gate both of them go tumbling onto the grass beside the slightly raised path. I growl to myself and go to pick one of them up. I see a shadow come up behind me and a painfully familiar voice rings out, "Need a hand, Bella?" Sam asks.

I wince. _'Yeah four years ago: raising the twins.'_ I want to reply but I hold my tongue. "No, I've got it _thanks_." I say instead, wanting to add on a ' _like I have since you decided to ditch me'_ but again decided that that wouldn't be the best idea at the moment.

He ignores what I say and grabs the one beside me and the one on the other side. "Where will I put it?"

I sigh, "Inside the door." And head down to take the last two small cases from the truck. They are small and light enough to lift so I'm at the door within a minute. When I get there I wished I had forced Sam to leave, standing in the door way is CJ and Billie, staring wide eyed at the man they'd only seen in photos. "Ceej, Bill, where's Uncle Jake?" I ask.

"I'm here, they ran off when I was putting in a DV—Sam?" His eyes flick to me and check my expression to make sure I'm okay, I nod at him.

"Mummy? Is dis our Papa?" Billie asks and I only nod. I watch their reaction; Billie looks sad, CJ looks angry though.

"You're de Papa dat weft us!" He shouts and glares at him, I almost laugh.

Sam's face show's shock and horror, he whips around to look at me. I shrug and say, "I didn't tell them that, their smart, probably figured it out for themselves." For the first time since he arrived we make eye contact and then everything changes, the hatred I felt for Sam is replaced with a strong desire to love him. I ignore it; it is just all the old feelings rushing back, nothing unexpected.

"I have to go," Sam says, "We need to talk soon though, Bella." I nod and then he leaves.  
I turn back to Jake and the twins, "So how about that walk?" I ask and it's met with a couple cheers.


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome Home

"Bella honey, it's so nice to see you!"

I smile at the little old lady, "It's good to see you too, Mrs Ateara. It has been so long, how is Old Quil?"

The sweet woman beamed, "He is still as good as ever, but he's started to get problems with his back though. Oh, I know I already said it but it's so lovely to see you Bella dear, and I take it these are the little rascals Charlie went on about all the time?"

"Yes, they are my little angels, CJ and Billie." I answer proudly. Smiling at the twins, who are staring up at me in horror of having to speak to a stranger.

Billie waves with a shy smile and CJ grins sheepishly, offering his hand to her.

"Oh! A perfect gentleman I see! I am Mrs Ateara, but you can call me Aunt A."

This catches Billie's attention, "Hi Aunt A, I is Biwwie!"

"It was nice seeing you Mrs A, but we really should be going, I have to go see Seth and Sue about, you know…" I smile sadly.

"Of course my dear, come up for some tea whenever you like and I will bake these two some of my famous muffins."

We wave goodbye and continue into the shop to find Jacob. I don't even make it to the first aisle before I'm ambushed. "BELLA!" is all I hear before I am squashed between two huge boys and a scrawny but growing Seth.

"Oh lord boys, watch the twins. I missed you guys a hell of a lot." I giggle from between them. "Hey Seth, I was going to come see you in a while, where is your mum?"

Seth gives me a sad smile that doesn't make it to his eyes, "She's with Bill, and they've been talking about everything but _that_ all day."

I nod and look at Embry and Quil, "What on earth happened to you two then?" I have to actually look up to see them, their almost as tall as Jake and Sam.

"Well, Iz, when boys and girls reach a certain age their bodies start to—"

"Quil I know what puberty is but this is insane!" I exclaim and feel a tug on my leg; I fully look down to the twins who I had been watching in the corner of my eye. I lift Billie up on one hip and Ceej on the other. "My angels this is Embry and Quil, they're Uncle Jakey's friends. Quil, Embry this is Billie and CJ."

The two boys make faces at the twins and they giggle shyly into my shoulders, they look to their side and see that Seth is standing there. "Seffy!" They chorus. Seth used to visit them once or twice a month before he starting getting busy taking on a part time job and being in school full time about six months ago.

"Hey guys, look how big you are now! You're almost as tall as me now." He says with an actual smile instead of one of the fake ones I've seen him put on in the past few minutes. Maybe bringing the twins was a good idea after all. "I was going to head to Billy's after this Bell if you want to come me?"

I look at the twins and think of when they will need fed, they had a snack in the car when we were halfway here and will be hungry in the next hour or so. "Yeah sure, we can grab some food here to take for their dinner and just make it at Billy's. Is that cool with you Jake?" I ask.

"Yeah I'm fine with that Bell, but just keep in mind that Sam moved in to the house down the road just after you left." Oh lord, two encounters in one day would not be ideal.

"There's little chance we will bump into him but I think I could handle it Jay, this afternoon wasn't too hard. Plus I, and the twins, would love to see Billy and Sue." I explain.

CJ hears Sue's name and his head shoots up, "Careful Cee you'll hurt your neck."

"We is gonna see aunt Swue?" he asks.

"We sure are sweetheart, are you excited?" He and Billie both nod vigorously. I grin at them and ask what they want for their supper.

We leave the store at around four thirty and the twins are already asking when they can eat, I tell them when we reach Uncle Billy's. It's a twenty minute walk so Jacob and Embry both carry a twin while Quil and Seth carry the shopping bags, I tried to insist that I would take something but they each just looked at me and walked off with about six bags each. CJ warmed up to Em extremely quickly and is letting him carry him the distance to Billy's house.

We arrive and the house is the same as it's always been, the only difference is Billy's ramp has been remade and looks more secure. Jake hands me Billie and Em puts CJ down so he can walk in with me. I blink back the tears that I know will fall soon enough and follow Jacob through the house to the living room where we can hear the TV blaring now. They look up when they hear us come in and their eyes widen when they see me and the kids. Sue stands up and hugs me, Billy wheels himself over and I bend down to hug him. Within seconds of me letting him go my Billie has jumped up onto his knee and CJ has wrapped himself around Sue' leg.

We hear the bathroom door open and shut down the hall and look questionably at Billy, realisation dawns on his face and he turns to me, "Bella…"

He's cut off though, "Bella?"

I turn, knowing that voice, having not heard it in almost five years, "Paul…" I whisper.

"Hey Belly." He says. I run up and jump into his arms, he's warm, no not warm he's absolutely boiling, ten times more than Jake. "I'm so sorry Bells, what happened then should never have happened an-"

I hold a hand up, "Let's just leave the past in the past, what has just happened has made me think about a lot of things lately and what happened then doesn't matter anymore because I am a different person now and I think you are too. We're family Pea, family always return to one another."

"Damn Iz, that was so deep Adele is rolling in it." I shoot a glare at Quil but it doesn't reach my eyes. I pull Paul closer for a quick second then grab his hand and introduce him to his cousins. The twins recognise him immediately and Billie loves him straight away.

I excuse myself to go make the twins their dinner and Sue says she'll help. I'm just making sausage and mash so obviously it's just so we can speak in private.

"How are you doing Bella?" She asks, I can't help but admire this woman, she has just lost her husband, daughter and lifelong friend and she asks how _I_ am doing and even makes the effort to come out of the house at all.

I smile grimly at her, "I don't really know Sue if I am being honest, sometimes I feel I can laugh and be happy but then I remember that _she_ ca-can't and I feel so guilty. I feel it was my fault, if I hadn't been so selfish…" I snap my eyes shut before the first tear can fall from my already glassy eyes. I look to her through blurry vision, "I can't even imagine how you are Sue, you and Seth have had the worst of it yet your still here supporting us all."

"It hurts, so much Bella, but I-I don't know what to do. I ju-" the tears are just about to fallfrom her glassy eyes when the door slams open.

A dripping wet figure emerges out of the darkness that has suddenly fallen in the while we had been in the house, the hood drops and he shouts into the house, not realising we are standing here, "BILLY? You home? I have news." Sam shouts.

He sniffs in and scrunches his nose like there's an itch, he slowly turns around and sees us standing there, wet eyes and dinner cooking. He resembles a fish, mouth gaping open.

Billy choses this moment to wheel himself into the room. We all turn to him, not knowing what to do in this situation. "Sam," he starts, "please come through, we can speak in the dining room." He puts a hand on his arm as he passes him. "I apologise Bella, I didn't know he would arrive. Jake and Paul were discussing what take-out we should order in, pepperoni pizza like you always had?"

I nod, "Yes, I haven't had a good take-out in years, just homemade food for Billie and CJ. And it is honestly fine; I don't feel anything for Sam anymore." _Lie_. There's a whimper from just outside the door and CJ appears, and looks angry. "What's wrong sweetheart; did Quil make a mean joke?"

"Mummy, our Papa t'is ere." He state.

"Yes CJ, I know that."

The little rascal rolls his eyes dramatically at me, "Yeah but me not like 'im much."

I take a leap of faith in my own self-control and my children's mental health if he decides to ditch them again, "CJ he is your father baby, if he wants to know you would you let him?" There's a crash from outside the door. Of course he's listening.

My first born pouts his lips and tilts his head to the side, he looks to the side for a moment, looks at me and nods. "Well maybe after he speaks to Uncle Billy you can introduce yourself and get Bea to as well? Is it a plan?" he grins toothily at me, "Great! Hi-five! You go get your sister on board then, good boy." I ruffle his already crazy hair as he runs of.

"You did a good thing Bella." Billy says to me.

I give him a sad smile, "Then why do I feel like it's going to bite me in the ass?"

I hear Billy's laugh travel down the hall with him. I get back to cooking the kids food, I don't want them having too much food that's bad for them until they are a bit older and start trying to get it from other places. But for now, they are having my healthy meals.

"I'm sorry about that Sue, why don't I get Jake, or maybe, if he wants, if it's even an _option,_ Sam, to look after them and we can have a coffee tomorrow and continue this talk? And we also need to discuss, you know, the plans…" I look down, not wanting to set either of us of again.

She pulls me into a side hug as I plate the food up, "Of course my dear, give me a call, I need to get home, some family are arriving tonight and I still haven't cooked dinner. Give Billy my love will you?" She flashes a tiny smile my way as she takes her jacket off the counter and puts it on. And then she's gone. And I need to face everyone again.

Since it's a special occasion I let the twins eat their dinner off the coffee table in the sitting room where everyone else will be having theirs soon enough. There isn't much space to sit after I set the kids up with their dinner. Seth and Jake are on the love seat, Billy and Sam had just came back in, Billy was in his chair and Sam had settled himself on the floor near the twins but no close enough to be sitting with them. Paul, Quil and Embry had the big couch and took up most the room. Paul, my hero, got up and I thought he was giving me his seat but instead he grabbed Quil like he was a rag doll and shoved him hard into Embry, seated himself back down and patted then new space beside him.

I rolled my eyes, sat down and leant into Paul's shoulder. I missed my cousin so much. After twenty minutes of separate chatter the doorbell rang, Jacob was first up of course. The twins told me they were done so I took their plates and followed Jake. I set the plates by the sink and grabbed some more for the pizza; I set them on the coffee table and quickly cleaned the dirty ones and put them away.

When I come back CJ has one of Jakes old toys the Billy must've kept and is sitting closer to Sam than before but not to close and explaining the colours on the toy. Billie though, has a huffy look on her face and is plopped on her favourite Uncle's knee.

Eventually after about an hour Jared, one of my old best friends and one of all the boys friends, arrives with his girlfriend Kim. I gather from Paul that they have been pretty serious for about a year and a half and are likely to get engaged soon. Paul has a bet on for next month the day after Kim's birthday. CJ looks cautiously at Jared and scoots closer to Sam. Sam in turn looks down wide eyed but relaxes a little and pulls him closer to his side. I smile at the exchange, and then I catch myself and stop. I'm happy he's making an effort for the twins but I still hate him.

After introducing myself to Kim and giving Jared a hug and apologising for not getting in contact, I tell the kids that we should probably start walking home. I hug everyone one last time, excluding Sam of course. The twins do the same, except CJ quickly and shyly gives Sam a hug. Sam's grin almost warms my heart. Almost.

Jake says that he will walk down with us, since his stuff is at mine, he also tells Billy that he might just crash down with me rather than walking back up. A growl is heard from the back of the room as Jake says this. Sam starts violently coughing, so loud that Paul jumps a little in his seat out of fright.

"Okay, lets head Jake, it was nice spending time with you all, thanks for having us Bill." I smile at the occupants of the room.

"It's fantastic having you back Bella, please stay a while dear."

"It's good being back, I think we might be here to stay this time."

And with that we step out into the cool air.


End file.
